Violin-tuning peg.



M. 0. WIGKES. VIOLIN TUNING PEG.

APPLICATION FILED JAE. 18, 1910. I

980,578. Patented Jam 3, 19 11. I

WITNESSES: INVENTOR.

v W AW MILTON O. WICKES, OF NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

VIOLIN-TUNING PEG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

Application filed January 18, 1910. Serial No. 538,736.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON O. VIGKES, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Northampton, in the county of Hampshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Violin-Tuning Pegs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to musical instruments and specificially to an improved tuning peg for any type of stringed instrument. in which keys or pegs are used, the object of the invention being to provide a peg which may be restrained against any degree of rotation due to the varying tension of the string; and the invention consists in providing a frictional clamping or tension device for each peg whereby any desired degree of frictional resistance may be applied to the latter, the construction being such that the thumb and finger, in the act of adjusting the frictional clamping device, serve to prevent the peg from turning in either direction. When the desired clamping effect has been attained, the peg may then be turned in the usual manner without disturbing the clamping adjustment. This characteristic permits the player of a Violin, for example, either to increase or reduce the frictional resistance at a moments notice, without the use of any tool and with the same thumb and finger and at the same time that he tunes or changes the pitch of the string. These acts may all be performed without taking the violin from its position under the chin, which permits the use of the bow while tuning the instrument in its proper position, making it unnecessary to lower the instrument.

A number of devices for applying frictional resistance to the keys or pegs o stringed instruments are known, but none of them is so constructed that the clamping device may be actuated in the manner described above. All of these known devices require the use of two hands to operate them,one to hold the key against rotation while the other manipulates the clamping devices.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View of a peg embodying the invention, the peg being shown in position on the neck of a violin or string instrument. Fig. 2 is a like view to Fig. 1 but showing the peg in elevation in a plane at right angles to that in said figure, the upper part of the peg being shown in section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the barrel of the key around which the string is wound, a removable collar being shown applied to one end of said barrel portion.

Referring to the drawings, a is the barrel of the peg; b the thumb-piece; c the flanged collar between the thumb-piece and the neck of the instrument; (l the flanged collar between the barrel of the peg and the neck of the instrument; 6 a rod fixed by one end in the barrel a and extending through a proper channel or hole axially of the peg nearly through the thumb-piece, the latter having an opening out t-herethrough through which the rod 6 extends. 9 indicates a nut located in said opening, the nut having a threaded engagement with the rod.

The neck of the instrument is made with a channel It in the upper side running lengthwise thereof, whereby two upstanding parallel ribs 7c and m are provided,one along each edge of the neck,the channel being of sufficient depth to permit boring a hole through both ribs to receive the peg, around the barrel of which the string 0 is wound in the usual manner.

The barrel a is provided with a squared portion at one end thereof, as shown at 7). On this squared portion is placed the flanged collar (Z which has a squared hole therethrough. The portion 29 extends therethrough or beyond the flanged collar 0 and into a correspondingly shaped socket q in the inner end of the flanged collar 0. These two collars, which are located on opposite sides of the rib is, as shown, permit the barrel part of the peg and thumb-piece 7) to be rotated together, if the collars are not screwed up firmly against the rib. This construction permits the barrel a to be readily separated and removed from the thumbpiece 6 as the elements are connected together in any suitable non-rotatable manner; as for example, as shown, the inner end of the thumb-piece Z) enters a squared socketed port-ion in the outer side of the flanged collar c.

In the drawings, the rod 6 is shown as being screwed into a threaded hole in the barrel part a, but it may be secured therein in any suitable manner, as by pinning it in. The upper end of the rod 6 is screw-threaded, as shown, and a nut g fitted over this end, said nut occupying the opening f in the thumb-piece and bearing against the upper and lower edges of this opening to the end that as the nut is rotated, the rod 0 will be moved endwise and the two flanged collars and (I be separated from or drawn toward each other, the square-socketed end of the collar 0 and the squared end 7) of the barrel 0 having a sliding engagement one with the other. To the end that the nut 9 may be readily manipulated by the thumb and finger which grasp the thumb-piece I), this nut is made of a diameter which is greater than the thickness of the thumb-piece, so that the periphery of the nut will lie beyond the plane of the sides of the thumb-piece.

Prior to this time tuning pegs for stringed instruments have been made in which clamping devices have been applied to the pegs, but these clamping devices have been so located and arranged that it is necessary to grasp the neck of the instrument with one hand to hold it, while the clamping devices are manipulated by the other hand; whereas, by means of the nut g, which is located in the centerot' the thumb-piece and extends sutficiently beyond the plane of the sides of the thumb piece, it may be easily rotated by the same thumb and finger which grasps the thumb-piece to turn the peg, the latter being held stationary while the nut is being loosened, because of the position of the finger and thumb as applied to the thumb-piece in the act of turning the nut. Thus the peg may be loosened from its clamped position on the neck of the instrument, the string tightened or loosened, and the peg again clamped to the neck to prevent it from being turned back by the tension of the string, all with the thumb and finger; and if the instrument be a violin, for instance, without removing the instrument from the position in which it is played, 2". e.,-under the chin.

lVhat I claim, is

1. In a tuning peg, the combination with the barrel element thereof provided with an angular shaped end, of a flanged collar having a recess therein and adapted to receive the angular shaped end of said barrel, a second flanged collar, also mounted on the angular-shaped portion and spaced from the first flanged collar, said collars being arranged for engaging the neck portion of an instrument, a thumb-piece, connecting means extending from the barrel element to the thumb-piece, and means located within the area of the thumbpiece and engaging the connecting means for elfecting the movement of the flanged collars with relation to each other.

2. A tuning peg comprising a barrel element around which a string to be tuned may be wound, a flanged collar for frictionally engaging one side of a rib of a stringed instrument, a second flanged collar for frictionally engaging the opposite side of said rib, a thumb-piece, connecting means comprising a rod between the barrel, flanged collars, and thumb-piece, whereby said elements may move together, said rod being threaded into the barrel element and extending into but not through the area of the thumb-piece, a nut thereon located within the thumb-piece whereby the flanged collars may be axially moved in relation to each other, as described.

3. A tuning peg comprising a barrel element having an angular shaped end portion, a flanged collar having an opening therethrough and engaging the angular-shaped end portion, a second flanged element provided with a socket for receiving the angular shaped end portion of the barrel element, a thumb-piece fitted into the second flanged element, a rod connected to the barrel element and extending through the flanged elements and into the thumb-piece, and a nut on the rod located within the area of the thumb-piece, whereby said collars may be moved in relation to each other and the thumb-piece rotated with the barrel, as described.

MILTON O. VICKES. Vitnesses RUrUs H. COOK, FRANK I. lVAsHBUnN. 

